Wonderful meal at Flat Iron.

I work about three blocks away, so I really don't know why I haven't tried Flat Iron before. But I did yesterday evening.

It was really quite delicious.

Bountiful bread baskets and accompanying olive oil, along with Mojitos for me and the girlfriend started the meal.

It's a tapas place, so we went for five plates and shared.

The sea bass ceviche combined the best elements of this deceivingly simple dish: tartness and heat. The bass itself was luscious.

The charcuterie plate was good, although not great. Surprisingly for a tapas place, Flat Iron's dishes are fairly substantial. But the sausages and cheese on this plate were somewhat meager, although pretty damn delicious. (Maybe that was the problem: I just wanted more!)

The grilled octopus and chorizo salad was absolutely fab. The octopus was nicely seared/grilled, roughly chopped, and added with chunks of chorizo in a lightly-dressed frizzee salad. I could have eaten a bucket of it.

Then came the hot dishes. First, a large piece of pork belly confit that was utterly unctious. The fat was butter-tender, the meat hearty and flavorful. Superb.

But the highlight of the meal was the braised short ribs over sinfully silky Yukon Gold mashed potatoes.

Oh.

My.

God.

Daniel Boulud-worthy short ribs.

I would actually seriously consider going back to Flat Iron and ordering four or five plates of this single dish. (Of course, I'm a sick puppy, but still.)

All in all, a wonderful meal with good cocktails, friendly, attentive service, and even a tableside visit by the chef (who was dumbfounded that my girlfriend had never had shortribs before; after visiting Flat Iron, she tells me that will assuredly change).

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